Lakewood Library kicks off teen summer reading with kickball event

Lakewood Memorial Library used kickball to anchor its Teen Summer Reading Program on Wednesday, July 8, with a one-hour game from 3 to 4 p.m. for ages 12 and up. The library told players to wear comfortable clothes and sneakers, keeping the event framed as a friendly outing rather than a formal tournament.

The game fit inside Lakewood Public Library’s broader Children’s & Teen’s Summer Reading Club, which ran from Friday, May 8, through Monday, August 10, and served children and youth from birth through those entering 12th grade. Participants could check in online or in person, and the club offered weekly prize drawings, gift card prizes, a halfway reward and a new book to keep for finishers. That gave the kickball stop more than a novelty role. It sat inside a summer system built to keep young people reading, moving and showing up in person.

For teens, the setup addressed a familiar summer problem: screens, heat and transportation can make it easier to stay home than to gather with other kids. Kickball lowers that barrier because the rules are familiar and the barrier to entry is low, which makes it easier to pull in teens who would not sign up for a more structured league. Lakewood Public Library says its teen programs are designed to give teens a place to explore interests, spark conversation and allow creativity to flourish, and the kickball event translated that mission into physical play.

Lakewood High School is also encouraging students to enroll in the library’s summer reading program, widening the reach beyond the library itself. In Lakewood, the value of the kickball game was practical as much as recreational: it offered a reason to leave home, join a group and make summer reading feel like a shared season instead of a solitary assignment.